The loss or lack of stable and supportive parenting is assumed to place children at risk for the development of mental health problems. When the reasons for inadequate parenting are themselves indicative of psychological problems of the parents, risk for the child is compounded. Such is the condition of children whose mothers are imprisoned. The purpose of the study is to identify psychological consequences for these children. The relationship between mother and child, the child's attitudes toward self, mood and emotional states, and the child's interpersonal relationships with peers and adult authority figures are studied. The research participants are 40 to 60 incarcerated mothers and their children, and equal numbers of mothers and children in community living single-parented families. The groups are comparable racially (Black) and socioeconomically. Data are obtained in four settings: mother groups, caretaker settings, mothers with their children, and experimental child groups. Secondary data are obtained from the schools.